Sunday, August 31, 2014: Man, did the wind do a dance all over this day. Despite earlier forecasts of low winds for today, it honked one good, but not enough to lose any humidity. I had a v-ball tournament in Al V’s yard in BL and it was humid enough to cut with a hard serve.

Thursday, August 28, 2014: I promise I’m not trying to jinx it but this could be one of the finest Labor Day weekends in the history of New Jersey -- though some Lenape Indians once told me about one they had maybe 800 years ago. For some reason they didn’t call it Labor Day weekend.

I’ll first mention the ocean water temps are in the mid-70s. Then, the bonus for mariners and…

Wednesday, August 27, 2014: Just a note that the first of the Hurricane Cristobal’s ground swells are showing along all LBI beaches and near inlets. Waves are breaking (midday) at maybe 4- to 5-feet but larger sets are on the way. It could get gnarly by tomorrow, with wave approaching 8-feet on sets. (Below) HCBP photo ... …

Sunday, August 24, 2014: Quite a looker, this Sunday before the final summer Sunday – windblown sunshine. Tough sledding for surfcasters, made tougher by 5- to 6-foot-plus surf.

Summer does not officially close on our calendars until Sept. 22 but there are two real-world things that supersede mere calendar concepts, namely school start-ups and Labor Day. While those two might mark the mere unofficial end of…

Saturday, August 23, 2014: The winds have stuck a fork in this near-the-end Saturday, more so than the a.m. showers. The winds were expected but it still feels kinda crappy when it actually happens.

A larger-than-usual Saturday-exit swarm is leaving the Island. The thing that makes it a tad more significant is the massive number of collegiates heading out for a lengthy stay away from the Island. And don’t go getting all…

Friday, August 22, 2014: well, those testy easterly winds have moved in as planned, though they have a lot more north (NE) than originally expected. That’s bad eelgrass news if the winds last long enough, though they might actually be increasing a bit by tomorrow. That “a bit” is the bugaboo. It doesn’t take NE’erlies long to chop things up one good/bad.

Thursday, August 21, 2014: (See proposed ASMFC striped bass regs below) Gorgeous again. Oh, we’re being spoiled. Of course, more than few of you are in-office or on-site meaning we’re really not cashing in on the near perfection. I will break away to take in some late-day…

Wednesday, August 20, 2014: Onshore winds have kicked up a 2- 3-foot short-period easterly swell. If we were more into September, this slight stir would be a striper stirring wind. In this instance, it’s just muckin’ up the fluking a bit.

Speaking of winds – the main player in coastal fishing – it’s gonna get odd again. You recall we had a prolonged stretch of east wind last…

Monday, August 18, 2014: Sure is nice out there. That “nice” is inching us toward a summer of memorable coolness, overall. And there sure aren’t any big changes on the horizon. Of course, we still have a month to go and weirdness seems to be in the air in recent years. However, I don’t see the weirdness wearing bikinis to start fall. In fact, look for early autumn to force us into wearing heavy hoodies.

Sat/Sun Aug. 16/17: Got that little spurt of south winds on Saturday, just in time to make it rough for afternoon boat anglers. The westerlies returned today

Chatted with some folks who have been seeing some periods of unusually clear bay water, especially inside Barnegat Inlet and all the way over toward then mainland. I’m guessing it might have been the onshore flow…

Wednesday, August 13, 2014: Boy, that dark-of-night storm was a kick in the ass. It did the floodalooza thing, which isn’t hard to do around here. But the 51 mph wind gust I recorded came as a surprise, as did the drop-and-cover backyard lightning. The lightning was a bit odd because it came during honkin’ ENE winds, rarely a T-storm producer. It looks like something near 5 inches of rain soaked us, though I got an island report of closer to six inches falling…

Thursday: Some sweet weather coming our way -- until things break down by early next week. No sweltering anywhere in sight ... maybe through the rest of August. Bizarre. Saturday is the winner: Light winds and mild temps.Don't miss it.And don't miss the John Sebastian ("Welcome Back" and "What a day for a Daydream") concert at the LBI Library, Saturday evening.…